Is Total Solar Eclipse a sign of end of times?

As North Americans await the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse to sweep over the sky, spectators are fleeing to nearest best spots across Texas, New York and others to witness the rare celestial event take place. 

Many cultures associate solar eclipses with the end of times. The April 8, Total Solar Eclipse is the last of its kind and will not be seen for the next 20 years in the United States.

In the week prior to the eclipse many suspicions events have taken place, further fuelling peoples fear of end of times conspiracies.

On April 5, Friday, East Coast's strongest earthquakes in 100 years hit New York and surrounding areas and just two days prior to this, a severe storm hit the city, causing terrible damages.

From its early beginnings, the Sun was deified by many cultures and seen as the most important object in the universe responsible for life and existence.

This is evident in the concept of the Egyptian Amun-Ra which the Greeks worshipped as Helios. In many temples, the priests were known to wear protective eyewear made of animal skins or eyeglasses.

The worshippers attributed this carefulness to the sun god’s anger at people who looked directly at the sun. Therefore, this universal feature of temporarily dimming the sun, which in some cultures symbolised the defeat of this deity, spawned mythologies that imagined vicious animals ravaging the sun.

Rituals of creating astounding loud sounds were practised to protect from this perceived danger. As a case in point, some cultures which include branches of Hinduism, created intricate stories of gods and heavenly beings including the journey of Rahu towards pursuing the sun and moon.